Saturday, October 08, 2011

VeganMoFo 8: Malaysian Black Pepper Tofu Defeats Me

Today's Spice: Black Pepper

It looks amazing, right?

Oh friends, I really love black pepper. It is one of my favorite flavors. I even have 4 or 5 varieties of it in my cupboards. So I was really stoked to find this awesome-looing recipe for Malaysian Black Pepper Tofu. The author did warn me that the recipe was very hot, so I only used one hot pepper... but I underestimated the heat power of 2 1/2 tablespoons of freshly cracked black pepper. Grossly underestimated. Maybe it was amplified because I left out almost all the fat, and just dry-fried the tofu? This dish smelled so wonderful, and made the whole house smell amazing... but man-oh-man, did it come out fighting! I took a few bites and my will power grew weaker and weaker with each moment. Black Pepper Tofu put some serious smack down on me. Mouth on fire, I was forced to surrender. I could not eat it.

Do you know what I did? *shame!* I took my tofus to the kitchen, washed them off in a sieve, and re-sauteed them with a little tamari. So sad, but so true. *hangs head in defeat*

I think you are exactly right that removing the fat has something to do with the too-strong flavor. I stopped frying things in oil altogether a couple of months ago, and while simple sautes have been just fine converted to dry frying or veg broth saute, anything that I used to make that was spicy has had issues - either too strong or the flavors don't meld so well. I haven't yet investigated the chemistry of it, but something goes on with the fat and spices that you don't get when you remove the fat.

Anyway I definitely feel your pain, but am also super impressed that you recycled it rather than throwing it out and that you are unafraid to share things that don't work out.

Ouh, I should try this dish to scare myself out, people always tell me that I use too much pepper but for me it tastes good. If I would try this dish with the amount recommended, I might learn a lesson.

A little fat would definitely smooth out the spice a little, but I bet it would still be spicy! I looooove black pepper probably as much as you, but that much is still a lot in one dish. Good try, at least!